Laurie,
Welcome to the club!!!!!!!
'66 Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: <laurahoey@myself.com>
To: Datsun <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 4:56 PM
Subject: Yikes! I smell gas!(long)
> Someone told me today that experience is the best teacher and it also
> encourages you to buy all the right tools. I don't think he knew how
> prophetic his words would be!
>
> I got stuck in traffic today for about 25 minutes on the freeway. My
> car's not idling the best right now and it tends to bounce around a
> bit. After finally getting off the freeway and on to clear road my car
> started running like crap, major missing and diminished power. Then I
> started smelling gas in a big way. I looked in the rear view and on
> the roadway I could see a line of something following me, I swerved
> the car a bit and sure enough the line swerved with me.
>
> I pull off into a parking lot with a shade tree (never know how long
> it's going to be) and opened the hood, gas was pouring from the rear
> float bowl overflow. This is not good because I have never been in
> this kind of maintenace territory before. Ok, call AAA just in case
> and they tell me it's going to be two hours. Sounds like a good time
> to learn about float bowls to me!
>
> I fortunately do have some tools with me, enough to get the job done
> but not the easiest way. Off comes the air cleaner assembly and the
> top of the float bowl...never been here before. I pull the top off and
> something falls through the engine compartment to the ground. Hummm, I
> pick it up and it's a brass nozzel kind of thing with a clear ball at
> one end and a thread at the other. It becomes quckly apparent that
> this is not correct. So I clean it off, screw it back in (with the
> little washers that were at the bottom of the float bowl), put
> everything back together and start her up (keep in mind I'm giving you
> the condensed version here), call AAA and cancel the tow.
>
> For about the next 5 miles it runs very poorly, missing a lot and just
> sounding like it need to take a big huge cough. Then all of a sudden
> it starts running great! Lots of power, no missing, hummm...just a
> little air in the fuel line?
>
> Anyway, I'm happy to say I did my first roadside repair today and it
> was a success. I think the guys doing lawn work in the parking lot
> thought I was nuts. A chick pulling out her tools, looking like a real
> mechanic and whistling all the while. I'd say today was a good day!
>
> ~~Laura Hoey
> '70 2000
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